iPhone (iOS 5) High Bass Audio Distortion

music +- WORKED JUST PERFECT!

I got just one question, will it work in my car as well?

yes it will i use a portable amplifier with my iphone and it works when you use the line out dock

Thx for yr suggestion fmc159. the distortion problem is much improved, though there is still a difference compared to the condition before upgraded to iOS 5.X.

do u notice that the sound quality of 'Music' of apple is much better after installed Music + into iPhone? And i'm now using Music instead of Music + as the old day i did🙂

Anyone know whether the stock player works after the IOS6 update?

I am still having this problem with iOS6.0.1. Is there another resolution than the Music + app?

Although I am incredibly thankful for that resolution!!!!!! Just for speed, battery etc I would like the original to work.

Thanks

Try reinstalling your iPhone from scratch without restoring from a backup.

I bought an iPhone 5 a week ago and I did not restored from backup. I reinstalled all my applications and I let iCloud sync some data (contacts, notes).

I have yet to hear distortion on the stock app. I was having distortion issues on my iPhone 4 but I did not have the time to try reinstalling.

Paul

The App "Denon Audio" (Free) works also great. You can make ur own Eqalizer with it and it kills the high bass distortion 😀 and the funny thing is with this app i created a EQ with very much bass but the sound is so wonderful clear. I think using this app is a good idea until apple will fix the problem of the built-in music player. Sorry, for my bad english, im from germany 😉

Thank you paracuja, we'll try!

Hi all. So after noticing that all the other people I know with iphones haven't had any audio issues, I took a look at their audio files in itunes on the computer. I was the only one who had the audio volume boosted to 100% in Get info > Options menu. Putting all my audio files back down to 0% (the default) boost in itunes, and then resyncing all songs back onto my iphone, makes all the songs sound normal and without distortion in the default music app. In fact, I think Music+ app that I suggested earlier works fine because it does not implement the 100% audio boost, even if you have selected it in itunes on your pc/mac. Have all of you got your audio boosted as well? Or has this only worked for me? I think in some older posts people mention their audio isn't boosted, so perhaps this won't be a universal solution.

I am a musician/producer with a fairly discerning ear, and have been following this discussion for many months with great interest. Basically, there are two different problems with the current stock Apple Music app that are somewhat related, and are causing all the complaints documented here. To summarize:

Firstly, the stock Music app now uses some newly re-written code introduced with iOS5 to reproduce all music that results in a more brittle, harsh and much less pleasing sound overall on pretty much every track when compared to the "classic" sound of the pre-iOS 5 music app. Part of the distortion problem everyone is complaining about here is a result of this "new" code.

Secondly, it introduces even more distortion on tracks that have their volume boosted in the iTunes "Options" tab in the "Get Info" screen of each song. In addition, there is a wierd glitch that causes it to "remember" a boosted volume setting and apply it to following tracks in a playlist, even if those next tracks are not boosted. I have over a thousand songs on my iPhone, and only some have boosted Volumes in their Options. (I only boosted the tracks that I felt were too soft to begin with, but left other tracks un-changed.) When I'm listening to any playlist or in shuffle mode, the tracks that follow a "boosted" track STAY boosted even if they were not supposed to be! That's most likely another source of the "bass distortion" everyone is complaining about. When that happens, I discovered that manually going back to the previous track and then immediately manually skipping foward to that same next track seems to "clear" the error ... and the track that was distorted suddenly plays correctly without the volume boost and related distortion.

The solution offered here to use the "Music+" app, which has recently been re-named "Lagu" (terrible name, by the way!) is a perfect one that I highly recommend any serious music enthusiast or audiophile should try. It fixes both of the above mentioned problems. The app is free, and includes several features that the stock Music app does not have -- like the ability to create instant "Queque" lists on the fly, and to retrieve lyrics. I've done many side-by-side listening tests comparing playbacks of the same exact tracks (with the Options Volume at 0%) played through "Music" vs. "Lagu" and the results are quite obvious and startling. "Lagu" sounds GREAT -- smooth and rich, just like the sound of the old iPods we used to love and cherish. No harshness, and no bass distortion. You can now even use a built-in equalizer function with a long list of pre-sets from within the app itself. One thing it does NOT do is pay attention to the Volume adjustments made in iTunes -- but since that was one source of the distortion to begin with ... that's probably a good thing!

One last "perk" of Lagu (for me, anyway) is that it makes use of the older style visual interface on the iPhone screen. By that, I mean the thinner Blue & White sliders and indicators instead of the bigger, fatter silvery sliders and buttons and Orange indicators on the newest "Music" app. I find those older controls much more attractive to look at and precise to use -- but that's just my opinion!

I want to add that I'm having exactly the same problem with the latest iOS (6.1.3 for now), iPhone 4S. I tried restoring it multiple times and it always works right after the restore, but then the problem just comes back - I feel like it's some application that's causing the problem, but it's weird, because even if I close everything in multitasking panel, distortion persists.

If anyone finds this thread and has any suggestion about what could be causing it, PLEASE post it here, we must find something in common.

I'm always restoring from a backup. Will restore as a new iPhone only if convinced that it is a definitive solution...

Finally: Lagu (Music+- player) didn't work for me

I can't edit my above post anymore, so: for whatever reason, the restoring process is not helping anymore - before, I did 3 restores and the sound was magically fine after it. This last restore I decided to go "as a new iPhone", I didn't upload anything but one song, and the sound is crap. This device is actually a replacement to my last one did during the warranty, which now is finished and I start wondering to myself whether Apple gave me a bad device by purpose... 2 months of use and always cared about it... No explanations.

Gobetti:

If, as you said, restoring your iPhone magically fixes the audio problem for a short time, but then the distortion comes back after a while, I can only conclude that your problem is software related and not due to a "bad device" or hardware. Just to review the obvious -- did you make sure to NOT use equalization or volume alterations on the music tracks? (Make sure the "Sound Check" and "EQ" are both set to "Off" in the Music Settings on your phone. And also make sure that all the tracks are set to their middle "0" db in their volume properties in iTunes on your computer before you sync those songs to your iPhone, and not boosted up or cut down.) If all that is true and you are still getting distortion, the only other possiblity is that there's some other app on your phone that is conflicting. And you say that Lagu doesn't work??? The distortion is present even when listening through Lagu??? That has never happened on my iPhone. Lagu always sounds VERY different than the stock player to my discerning ears. If you have restored your device as a "new iPhone" without any other non-stock apps added, and have also made sure that all of the above settings are as described here and are STILL getting distortion, then this whole problem is complete mystery!!!

I agree with you that it seems more like a software problem, but as I also said, my last restore was "as a new iPhone" and this time it didn't fix. I see many people with the same problem as me in the internet and I could even find someone in real life with the same problem - this is surely not something particular to me.

Yes, all my songs are set to 0dB and have no equalization option, but even if there was something bad set, that wouldn't be the problem, as the sound is distorted through earphones with no matter what (music, calls, skype, podcasts, it doesn't matter). That's why Lagu doesn't change anything neither. You may be right that "Lagu always sounds very different", but as the sound is very distorted, I can't tell the difference - both are awful.

And yes, again, the last restore was completely to stock, no new apps, no new anything except for one song. Thank you for your attention and suggestions.

Just in case anyone is still monitoring this forum ... all the sound problems discussed here seem to have been solved by Apple with the introduction of IOS 7 and the iPhone 5S. The sound quality on the 5S is absolutely fantastic, with none of the distortion problems described here. Whatever they've done with this new combination of software and hardware, it's probably the best sounding Apple music player ever produced! No need for solutions anymore -- the stock music app sounds perfect now!!! For more info on this, check out this forum discussion: http://www.head-fi.org/t/682808/iphone-5-with-ios-7-sounds-different